5 terrible workplace policies that the best employers don't have

Does your employer ask you to bring in doctors' notes?Lindsey Turner/flickrWorkplace policies are supposed to serve the needs of the business — which include attracting and retaining great employees. And yet some truly terrible policies have stuck around for decades, despite fairly sweeping changes in work culture. These policies are often rooted in outdated work norms and a lack of trust from managers toward employees — which is one reason why good companies and good employees don't want anything to do with them.

Here are five of the worst workplace policies that good companies jettisoned long ago but which lesser companies continue to cling to.

Requiring employees to bring in doctors' notes in order to use sick leave

Colds and flus — some of the most common reasons for sick leave — don't generally require a doctor's care. Requiring sick workers to drag themselves out of bed and sit in a doctor's office simply to get proof of illness is an unfair burden on people who really just need a few days of rest. It also drives up health care costs by forcing people to seek medical care when home care would suffice, incentivizes people to come to work sick and signals to employees that you don't trust them. Good employers hire competent, trustworthy professionals and treat them like adults. If someone is abusing their sick leave, good managers will deal with that head-on; it doesn't require a company-wide policy that harms everyone else.

Insisting that you use vacation time to take a few hours off even if you routinely work long hours

It's demoralizing to put in extra hours in the evenings or over the weekend and then be directed to use paid time off in half-hour increments if you need to leave early or come in late for a doctor's appointment or other personal reason. What incentive do good employees have to be flexible with employers or to put in extra hours if they get nickled and dimed? Good managers and good companies look for ways to be flexible with people who work long hours.

Insisting that job candidates divulge their salary history

Not only does insisting on knowing a candidate's salary history violate their privacy and put them at a disadvantage in salary negotiations, but it also tends to perpetuate the gender wage gap. Since women are statistically likely to be paid less than their male counterparts for the same work, basing salary offers on past earnings means that the disparity will continue when those women move to their next jobs. (In fact, Massachusetts recently banned the practice for this reason.) Good employers determine a candidate's value for themselves, rather than defaulting to what someone else paid, and they don't force candidates to share information that should be between them and their accountant.

Limiting your salary increase if you take an internal promotion

Some companies cap the salary increases that come with internal promotions — saying that your salary can only increase by, say, 10% when making an internal move, even if they were prepared to pay an external candidate significantly more. These policies are incredibly short-sighted, because they push the best employees — the ones who are most likely to get promoted — to leave the company in order to be paid market rate for their work. There's no reasonable defense for policies that prevent companies from paying an internal candidate as much as they would pay someone from outside the business.

Being rigid about arrival times when the work doesn't require it

It's certainly true that in some jobs, time of arrival truly matters. For example, if you're a receptionist whose phones start ringing right at 9 a.m. or if you need to attend a morning meeting with clients, of course you need to show up at work right on time. But in many other jobs, being a few minutes late really doesn't impact anything. In those cases, managers who are sticklers for precise arrival times and penalize employees who aren't at their desks promptly at the stroke of 9 a.m. (or whatever their start time is) are focusing on the wrong thing. In many jobs, performance is and should be measured by quality of work and results — not by whether someone didn't land in their desk chair until 9:15.